Equinor is marking 50 years of activity in Northern Norway with plans for continued investment, exploration and field development across the region.
The company’s presence in Northern Norway began in 1976, when Statoil opened its Harstad office as its first establishment outside Stavanger. Today, the region has become a major part of Equinor’s Norwegian Continental Shelf portfolio, producing more than 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. According to Equinor, this represents around 35% of the company’s own production from the NCS and underlines Northern Norway’s role as an important energy province for Europe.
Equinor currently has more than 1,200 employees in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark. From Harstad, the company operates the Norne and Aasta Hansteen fields in the Norwegian Sea, as well as Snøhvit and Johan Castberg in the Barents Sea. Gas from Snøhvit is processed into LNG at Melkøya in Hammerfest.
The company also highlights the growing role of the northern supplier industry. Deliveries from Northern Norwegian companies have increased from NOK 2.6 billion in 2023 to an estimated NOK 4 billion in 2025, reflecting rising activity in maintenance, modifications, projects and operations.
Looking ahead, Equinor sees further potential in both the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. The company points to undeveloped discoveries that can be tied back to existing infrastructure, as well as continued exploration opportunities. In the Johan Castberg area, Equinor has started developing Isflak as the first subsea field to be tied back to Johan Castberg. The company has also made the Drivis Tubåen and Polynya discoveries in the area, with Drivis Tubåen already approved for tie-back to existing infrastructure.
Equinor plans to drill one to two exploration wells annually in the Johan Castberg area going forward. The original resource base for Johan Castberg was estimated at 500–700 million barrels of oil, and Equinor aims to add a further 200–500 million barrels through continued exploration and development.
Photo: The Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea; by Søren Q. Terkildsen/Søren Ø. Clausen/Rene J. Feuerlein - ©Equinor
